Latest / Best of Business / Lynda Keene: Tourism Export Council CEO on the rise in overseas visitors cancelling New Zealand trips

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Lynda Keene: Tourism Export Council CEO on the rise in overseas visitors cancelling New Zealand trips · Best of Business

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  Speaker 2: Now, there are reports that tourists are canceling their trips
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  Speaker 2: to New Zealand. A snapshot survey by the Tourism Expert
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  Speaker 2: Council show that seventy seven percent of tourism operators who
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  Speaker 2: responded say they've had cancelations, and this is for March
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  Speaker 2: and April. Linda Keen is the CEO of the Tourism
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  Speaker 2: Export Council and with us Now, Hi Linda, Oh, good afternoon, Heather.
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  Speaker 2: Now it sounds does it sound to you like it's
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  Speaker 2: not so much fears about what way happen, but actual
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  Speaker 2: flight cancelations and root disruptions that are main culprit's here.
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  Speaker 3: I think, firstly, to put into context of the respondents
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  Speaker 3: to the survey, the seventy seven percent is only for
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  Speaker 3: those travelers from the UK and European markets. All our
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  Speaker 3: other markets are fine, and it is for this March
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  Speaker 3: April period and thankfully we're at sure that we're at
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  Speaker 3: the tail end of our season, so we expected a
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  Speaker 3: few cancelations as soon as this event kicked into but
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  Speaker 3: at this point in time, we are not concerned too
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  Speaker 3: much about the upcoming season from the first of October.
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  Speaker 2: Do you think though, that these people will rebook, because
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it is one thing once you've had the
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  Speaker 2: flight cancelations happen and the disruptions happen, and then you're
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  Speaker 2: in what is essentially going to be a cost of
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  Speaker 2: living crisis, which you know is happening. Wouldn't you be
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  Speaker 2: better off saving your dollars and not going to New Zealand.
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  Speaker 3: I think for those long haul travelers, because it's such
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  Speaker 3: a commitment with time and with funding, with their investment,
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  Speaker 3: for the airlines that are working closely with their passengers
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  Speaker 3: and providing favorable new routes to fly to New Zealand,
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  Speaker 3: I think they'll be fine. Certainly, all airlines and tourism operators,
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  Speaker 3: if there is a cancelation coming through, they'll be encouraging
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  Speaker 3: a credit more than a cancelation. But with such a
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  Speaker 3: long haul destination, if people still have the time, they've
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  Speaker 3: prepaid for their airfare and the bulk of their trip
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  Speaker 3: to New Zealand already, we think they will still travel.
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  Speaker 3: But of course there's a lot of uncertainty as to
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  Speaker 3: how long this situation carries on.
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  Speaker 2: How long is it before I mean, because this has
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  Speaker 2: been this is not a novel idea by me. I
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  Speaker 2: mean a lot of people have said this, but we
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  Speaker 2: actually stand to benefit because we are such a safe
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  Speaker 2: destination as long as people can get here. How long
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  Speaker 2: before we start to benefit from people who are looking
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  Speaker 2: for nice, safe holidays.
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  Speaker 3: Well, the quick snapshot that we've got and some anecdotal
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  Speaker 3: feedback just in the last couple of days does suggest,
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  Speaker 3: as with some crises, there are always some beneficiaries, particularly
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  Speaker 3: in travel and tourism, and people change their travel plans.
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  Speaker 3: So we are definitely seeing new inquiries starting to come
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  Speaker 3: through from the next one to two months because that
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  Speaker 3: would be the summer season in the Northern Hemisphere. So
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  Speaker 3: if those that can travel still want to travel, we're
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  Speaker 3: just beginning to see some bookings float through and that
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  Speaker 3: those are coming from the US from India. Singapore Airlines
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  Speaker 3: has just announced that they've put an increased capacity to
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  Speaker 3: London and Australia and cancel their due by flight. So
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  Speaker 3: the third of April. That is a favorable opportunity for us,
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  Speaker 3: even though we want to be gentle about you know, opportunities.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, too right. But doesn't it mean those people
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  Speaker 2: will just stop in Australia or do they do they
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  Speaker 2: come across the ditch as well.
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  Speaker 3: There's quite a number of people that when they come
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  Speaker 3: to New Zealand they do dual destination. They do Australia
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  Speaker 3: and New Zealand. So there is potential for us as
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  Speaker 3: a thief safer, safer nation that we could get mono
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  Speaker 3: so we could get direct into a New Zealand or
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  Speaker 3: we might pick up some dull with Australia and New Zealand.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, very interesting. Hey, Linda, thank you has always appreciate it.
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  Speaker 2: Linda Keen, Chief Executive of the Tourism Export councilor.
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